Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Watching the Making of a Martyr

By Steve Gorelick, Ph.D.

Does this mean I have to watch it again?

That was my first thought when asked for my reaction to “the Neda video.”

I had watched it early on, before its provenance was clear, and felt I had already grappled with its horror. I remember forcing myself to face the screen, as if watching every second would admit me to some global community of the grieving. More »

Two Deaths, Two Contexts

In Baghdad, Chancellor Keesling, a 25-year-old soldier from Indianapolis, shot and killed himself. In Tehran, Neda Agha Soltan, a 26-year-old student, was shot and killed as she watched a peaceful protest.

Two very different deaths, two very different news stories, but both required context to express or arouse anything but pain and loss. More »